Fall TV Roundup, Week 14

In these posts I look at new shows on TV. I review the pilot and second episodes. If you don't see a new series listed below, please check previous weeks.

Tuesday Nights:
Girlfriends Guide to Divorce, Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on Bravo (Premiered December 2)
About: Most channels on the dial are getting into original scripted programming, and Bravo is no exception. This is the latest series for the network, starring Lisa Edelstein as a self-help writer whose life falls apart. She's spent her career doling out advice about being a wife and mother, but when her marriage implodes her career might go with it, too. This feels like a show aimed at angry women who were wronged by men. I might not be the target demographic here, but this show made me feel more than a little uncomfortable — and not just because there aren't a lot of likable characters here. Also, Janeane Garofalo plays a very central supporting role in the first episode, and I guess in the first couple episodes, but she's already departed the series. When that happens, it's hard to figure out what a show is really going to be like. Who will be the focus, and what will it be going forward. In the pilot you get a sense of tone and possible ongoing narratives, but not a structure or frame for the series. That feels like a problem, and a big on-going question. But was there enough there in the pilot to keep people coming back? I'm not sold.
Pilot Grade: C-

Sunday Nights:
The Librarians, Sundays at 8 p.m. on TNT (Premiered December 7)
About: In 2004, TNT launched what turned out to be a successful series with the original TV movie "The Librarian: Quest for the Spear." This film, which has an "Indiana Jones" type vibe, is about a brilliant man, Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle), who is recruited to be The Librarian, guardian of magic in the world. It spawned two additional movies, in 2006 and 2008, and now has inspired a weekly series. Wyle, who also stars in the TNT original series "Falling Skies," has a recurring role in the series as Carsen, and was in the starring role in the first two episodes — which aired in one block on Sunday night. But going forward his associate Librarians (Christian Kane, John Kim, and Lindy Booth) and their guardian (Rebecca Romijin) will do most of the heavy lifting. This show is a mixture of "National Treasure" and "Warehouse 13," the SyFy series that ended this summer. It is about people battling villains in a quest to capture magic objects and save the world. It's light-hearted, fun, and feels very much like a TNT series. This might not be great, but it's a nice alternative to some of the somber, darker Sunday night cable fare.
Pilot Grade: C
Second Episode: C